Precious Gifts
by NinaLilly
Summary: Sometimes the most precious of gifts comes in the most unexpected ways DiNozzo/Gibbs father/son/family story
1. Chapter 1

Precious Gifts

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Never have and never will. Wish I did though. No copyright infringement is intended

A/N 1: This is set starting at the end of Season 9 episodes Engaged I and II .

A/N 2: This story starts off as mostly cannon then becomes an AU of its own. It is a WIP that will be finished. Unfinished stories drive me nuts and I won't do that to my readers

Chapter 1

The last few days had been long beyond belief. He hadn't been home in more hours than he wanted to count, but he was finally going home. The day had ended with both good and bad resolutions. Marine Lt. Gabriella Flores was safe and would be o.k. Those kids on the school bus not dying had been another high point. However her commander hadn't been so lucky. He had been killed during the rescue mission. His family was probably receiving that dreaded knock on their door right about now. Too many had died since this had all began. Starting with the explosion at the school, the plane that went down while returning the remains of those brave soldiers and the Captain that died during the rescue. He was so tired he thought he could sleep for a week, but figured sleep would be a long time coming. All he wanted to do was eat a pizza, drink a beer and put in a movie. "DiNozzo! Your report done? " Gibbs was standing in front of his desk looking at him with that intent look on his face that told you he could read you like an open book. "Yeah boss, the hard copy is in your in box and I e-mailed you a copy."

"Then go home, you look exhausted." Gibbs replied.

"Where are Ziva and McGee Boss?"

"Already sent them home. Ziva was going to visit the Captains family. She had a final message for them from him. Abby and Tim were going bowling with Sister Rosita and the nuns, Ducky is going to dinner with jimmy and Breena. I'm leaving for dinner with Lt Flores and her dad at Bella Peppers. You want to come with?" Gibbs asked.

"No thanks boss. I have a date with my shower and a movie."

"Where did you go with Chaplain Burke this afternoon? You OK DiNozzo? You have been pretty serious and not your usual self. I' m concerned." Gibbs said as he sat on the corner of Tony's desk.

"I'll be OK boss. This has really made me think about how short life is you know. We don't know if we have 5 min., 5 hrs or 50 years. I made this bucket list, things I want to do before I die. I spent some time talking to the Chaplain about it. I went with her to the daycare here on the Navy Yard. Listen to me rambling without a movie reference and baring my soul to you without the help of your basement and bourbon" He sat and thought about how Gibbs truly knew how precious life was. This was sending him down another tangent and he had better get home before he ended spending the whole night sitting and thinking at his desk.

"My door is always open, no matter the time if you need me. It's Friday and we aren't on call this weekend, get some rest. If you need more time to get your head together let me know. Vance already approved more time off for all of us if we need it. Told us to do something fun." Gibbs quietly informed him.

"You gonna take some time Boss?" Tony would have bet money the answer was no. Gibbs never took time off.

"You kidding me. This is what I do for fun." Gibbs told him with a smirk as he got up from the desk to leave. "Grab your bag and let's go."

One hour and twenty minutes later Tony was pulling into his parking space in front of his apartment building and breathing a sigh of relief that he was finally home. He eyed the two flights of stairs that led to his apartment and wished for an elevator. The two story art deco building had seen better days but still was in pretty fair condition. The longer he lived here the better he liked it. It only had three other apartments and they were all occupied by elderly couples. First there was Aaron and Rebecca Klein. She watched everything that happened in the neighborhood. She was a one person neighborhood watch group by herself and always seemed to know when he had been working long hours and made the best chicken noodle soup. Somehow she always knew when he was going to get home after a bad case and had fresh pot of soup and homemade biscuits waiting. She also instinctively knew when he needed his space. But it wasn't just him that she spoiled. She did this for the other tenants to when they were sick and feeling down. He really needed to introduce Ziva to them. They were Jewish and had survived Auschwitz as children. He was sure that they would have many things in common. They lived in the other apartment on the second floor across the hall from him. Directly below him were Anna and Joe Campbell. He had spent his life working in the maintenance department for the fire department in DC. Oddly enough his wife was obsessed with burning those scented candles that seemed to be so popular right now. He could smell the lilac candle burning from here and was sure that his apartment would be overpowered by the scent to. I wonder how many of those things she is burning right now to make it smell that strong. "I bet you it would rival the smell in the Yankee Candle shop next to Michaels' Tailor shop" he mused. " I wonder if you could asphyxiate on the fumes from all those candles. That might be something I should ask Abby or Ducky ." And finally there was Bud and Paralee Hortin. They had owned a dairy farm in Illinois before retiring. Both of whom loved to read and had a passion for American history. They had moved to DC because they wanted be near all of that history and wanted to make sure that all of Congress was well versed in said history. It never ceased to amaze him how much history Bud really knew. He should have taught at a University. He could quote amazing number of our founding fathers writings word for word and yet he had dropped out of school his tenth grade year. He had been the youngest of six and the other five boys had been drafted into service during WWII. His father had to have help caring for the farm. "Oh well, time to get my pizza and laundry soap inside and kick back." Looking at his watch, he was surprised that it was already 7 PM. He had just sat his pizza on the counter when his phone began to ring. He sighed when he saw it was from Dispatch and answered "DiNozzo"

"Agent DiNozzo we have a woman named Sandy on the other line who says she with Family Services and needs to speak with you , that it is urgent."

"Transfer the call"

"This is Agent DiNozzo, may I help you?"

"Agent DiNozzo my name is Sandy Thurman and I am with Family Services here in DC. About 4 hours ago a baby girl was brought into the emergency department at George Washington University Hospital. She was left at the desk stating she couldn't take care of the baby. She said she had heard that if you chose to walk away from a newborn after giving it staff in a hospital that she wouldn't face being charged with abandonment. The mother then handed the nurse a business card and said that the card belonged to the baby's father. The card read Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Naval Criminal Investigative Services with this phone number." Tony no longer heard a word Sandy was saying, he was too much in shock. He slowly slid down the refrigerator door and sat in the floor trying to wrap his head around the concept he might be a dad.

A/N 3: All 50 states have Safe Haven For Newborns laws (Sometimes called Baby Moses Laws) of some sort. These laws allow unharmed newborns to be left at hospitals, fire departments or police stations and were enacted to prevent newborns from being abandoned in an unsafe place.

Please read and review. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Oh . My. Goodness! I am overwhelmed. Thank you for all of the reviews and story alerts. Less than 12 hours after I posted this story there was already 100 subscriptions and 1000 hits on the story! I didn't think I would have this many people interested in it, especially since this is my first published story. I really hope the story lives up to everyone's expectations. Thank you to everyone who left a review or a suggestion. I tried to send a little note to everyone who reviewed, but some of you had your private messaging disabled and I couldn't do so.

Disclaimer: Still don't own them. I'm just playing with them for a while. The only thing I can claim are the original characters.

Chapter 2

"Agent DiNozzo, are you still there? Hello? Hello, are you alright? Agent DiNozzo!" He heard his name being called from a distance and realized it was the social worker still on the phone with him.

"Yes ma'am I'm here. You just gave me a huge shock. Give me a second. Did the woman give her name?" He spoke softly in the phone. His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper, while at the same time trying to figure out who the mother could be. He may be a ladies' man, chasing any pretty thing in a skirt, but he was always careful.

"No sir, she didn't. She said she wanted to remain anonymous. There are many things we need to address but that would be better done in person. Would you be able to come to the hospital to talk about them?" was her reply.

"Yes, I'll grab my gear and be there in about an hour at most. Is she OK?"

"Sir she is very tiny. The doctors believe she is pre-term and we can discuss her condition after you get here. Have me paged when you arrive.

Thirty minutes later he found himself walking into the front entrance of the hospital, standing at the information desk about to ask for help when a red headed woman who was at most five feet tall and weighed at maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet touched his arm. "Excuse me, are you Mr. DiNozzo?" On the pocket of her blouse was a name badge that identified her as Sandy Thurman, Department of Family Services. She was not what he had been expecting at all. In his mind he had pictured an older, weary, slightly rumpled woman who had been at her job all day with too many children to oversee and not enough hours in the day. Not this tiny, perfectly neat, spitfire who was looking up at him. Sharp green eyes studied him intently and her stare was eerily similar to Gibbs. In other words it could read you like a book. He had a feeling that if you got on the wrong side of her she could hold her own no matter her size.

"Yes ma'am, Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo at your service, you can call me Tony."

"You can call me Ms. Thurman and don't call me ma'am. I work for a living. You had better get it together quickly because you will get nowhere flirting with me. In fact I can make your existence miserable and will do so if you mess around. Come with me. We have a doctor's consultation room waiting to discuss this in." He followed her and a uniformed officer quietly to a secluded room and sat down. "Lets start back at the beginning. Some of this will be a repeat of what we discussed on the phone, but I feel it best for everyone if we start there and fill in all the details as we go. It helps prevent confusion later on. I expect total honesty from you in all things Mr. DiNozzo. I will be taping this interview. If you have a question, ask. I will answer if I can. But understand this, my responsibility is to that baby girl upstairs, and not soothing ruffled feathers. I could care less if I offend you or anyone else. Now let's get started. About 4PM this afternoon a newborn girl was brought to the ER by a woman and left using what is commonly called the Baby Moses Law. She handed the nurse this card and said it belonged to the baby's father. Is this your card Mr. DiNozzo?" Tony looked at the card and recognized it immediately.

"I give these to witnesses when I am out on a case so they can contact me if they need to. I work for NCIS. It's the civilian police for the Navy and Marine Corp. I only give them for work related reasons, never to girlfriends. I suppose someone could have fished one out my wallet. I will be honest here and tell you that I don't know who the mother could be. I have been thinking about the women I slept with in late February or early March and I know none of them were pregnant. That's when I would have had to of done the deed for a baby to have born now, if I calculate this right."

"Mr. DiNozzo, remember the baby is premature so that might not be accurate. In order to establish that you are or are not the father we will have an independent lab do a paternity test. It takes three to five days to get the results once we take the necessary samples for the lab. I need to ask before we go any further if you wish to be a part of this child's life, provided it is shown that you are the father." Tony looked at her and felt a calmness come over him that he hadn't been feeling since the phone call and answered her without any hesitation. "If she is my daughter I will do whatever it takes to be the best Dad I can be."

"Then Mr. DiNozzo lets see if the Doctor can come and speak with us about your daughter's condition. She dismissed the uniformed officer as she had come to the conclusion that Tony wasn't a threat. "Now since she is a preemie there are medical issues that need to be addressed and the doctor is the best one to speak to about that. There are some other things you should know before he arrives. At this time she has been placed in protective custody with me as her social worker. She will remain this way until your paternity is proven and Judge Bowers approves your petition for custody of the baby. He is the family court judge, by the way and handles the custody cases. I recommend you hire a lawyer of you own to protect your interests. I will be the one to make medical decisions until Judge Bowers says otherwise. My job is to be her advocate and I will do what I believe is best for her. Before I called you this evening I checked with a friend who works with Metro PD and asked for any information he had on you. You have a good reputation in the law enforcement community and he vouched for your character. For that reason I will put your name on the approved visitor list. For now those visits will be supervised. I would not have even told you which hospital she was in if you had a record or he had thought you might harm her in any way. I would have called you into the office and had the paternity testing done before I allowed you to see her. Both of them turned their heads to the door at sound of knocking.

A tall man entered the room. "Hello, I'm Dr. Mark Hill, but everyone calls me Dr. Mark." He sat down across from Tony and looked at him with kind eyes."I am your daughter's neonatologist. She was brought in about 4 PM this afternoon. She was not more than a few hours old and she is quite small. She only weighed a little over 4 pounds and was breathing well. Because she is breathing so well on her own we believe her to be somewhere between34 and 36 weeks. If she was less than 34 weeks she wouldn't of had the lung maturity to breathe on her own. She is not on a vent, but we do have her on oxygen to make it easier for her to maintain her oxygen saturations. We don't want her to have to work hard and use all of her energy just to breathe. She seems quite comfortable and was sleeping when I left her to talk to you. We tested her sucking reflex and while she does suckle she tires quickly, which is quite common. Right now we want her to use all her energy to grow and mature. We have placed a NG tube to feed her supplementally. It is a tube that goes up through her nose and into her tummy. She will have to be fed several times a day in small amounts since her stomach is so small. She appears to be otherwise healthy at this time. There is no record of a infant of her age and size leaving a local hospital in the past week. She was still wet with blood and fluids from the birth, so she had to have been born at home sometime this afternoon. Because of the apparent circumstances of her birth and her being preterm, she is at higher risk for infection. She is in a special area of the NICU so that if she does get sick she won't pass it on to the other babies. Do you have any questions or comments before we go see her?"

"Doctor, what are her chances of survival?"

"She is going to need some special care for a while, but I am confident she will eventually go home. How long the stay is going to be remains to be seen. It will depend on how well she does and if any complications come up. I am sure you will have more questions later. Feel free to ask anything at anytime. Now, let's go see her.

Tony followed the doctor and Sandy to the locked doors of the NICU. All he could think was "My daughter is in there, my daughter is in there. Over and over again, like a record that had been scratched and played the same phrase repeatedly. As he approached this tiny clear plastic box where the smallest baby he had ever seen was laying, it struck him this she was his. His offspring and future was laying in front of him covered in tubes and wires. She had a thick crop of dark hair on her head and his mothers nose and eyes. To be honest she looked exactly like his baby pictures and he had been the spitting image of his mother. He knew without the DNA test she was his. He reached out with a trembling hand and stroked her cheek and started to hum a tune his mother had sung to him. She was the softest thing he had ever touched. His heart melted right then and there. As he stood stroking her cheek she began to seize. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself in the waiting room outside the NICU. Looking at his watch realized it was already 10 PM. Somehow he had already been at the hospital two and a half hours. Right now he wanted someone to be there and to tell him it was going to be OK. Then it struck him, he didn't want his biological father. Picking up his phone and dialing, he called the man who had been more of a father to him than his own dad. The phone only rang twice before it was picked up.

"Gibbs, …DiNozzo are you there?"

"Yeah boss, I'm here. I'm at the hospital and I need your help."


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own NCIS, wish I did. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 3

"I'm on my way. Are you at Bethesda? Are you hurt?"Gibbs asked as he started his pickup and was pulling out of his drive way.

"No, I'm at George Washington University Hospital. I'm in the NICU waiting room. I'll explain everything when you get here."

He sat there alone and waited for someone to come out with more information about his daughter. No one else was in that tiny, well used room. Was she going to be OK? Was that the only time he was going to see her alive. Would his only memory of her be of her limbs shaking and alarms going off just seconds after he touched her. He couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow responsible for what had happened in there. "Please God, let her be alright" he prayed silently. He had to calm down. There was so much to do it was overwhelming. He was going to have to man up and coming clean with Gibbs was just the beginning. That thought alone was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. He looked up and could see his boss coming down the hall. All of a sudden he felt like a teenager about to tell his dad that he had got his girlfriend pregnant on prom night.

"Tony.."

"Boss I.." he interrupted. Only to be interrupted himself by the door to the NICU opening and Dr. Hill and Ms. Thurman coming out.

"Mr. DiNozzo, would you like to talk here or go someplace more private to discuss your daughter?" a solemn asked Tony. At that statement Gibbs eyebrows rose and he eyed his senior field agent carefully. Tony had some explaining to do and soon.

"Here is fine, this is my boss and he will end up knowing about everything anyway. Saves me from having to repeat myself. I hadn't had a chance to tell him about the baby so I'm sure he wants to know what is going on. …Boss I promise I will explain everything about this mixed up mess in detail in a few moments" He then introduced everyone and sat down. To his surprise Gibbs and Ms. Thurman already knew each other. He would have to ask him about that later.

"First let me say she is still breathing on her own and is stable for now. Premature infants sometimes have trouble with hypoglycemia. I won't go into details of how it all works. But that is what we believe caused the seizure. There can be some other potentially life threatening causes of seizures, but right now we don't believe those are the cause. We will monitor her blood sugar closely but it should get better as she puts on a little weight and grows a little. Why don't we go back in and I can explain what we are doing with her. It would probably be easier if you can see the equipment as I explain it. "

"Doc, can you give us a few minutes so I can discuss things with Ms. Thurman and Gibbs. Now that I know she is stable I really need to explain what is going on to Gibbs and ask Ms. Thurman some things."

"Of course, there is a buzzer on the door. Ms. Thurman knows how it works and I will tell the nurses to buzz you in when you are ready. "

"Boss you are never going to believe my evening…" he started nervously as he got out of his chair and started to pace.

"Tony come back and sit down. Now take a deep breath and calm down. Tell me what is going on, although I can probably guess some of it. Now start at the beginning and give me a sit rep."

Tony sat down and did as he was told. Once he started everything just came tumbling out. "… and boss she looks just like I did as a baby. I can tell just by looking at her she is mine. What am I gonna do? I don't know how to take care of a child, much less a newborn."

"It will be OK.. . I will be here to help and so will be a whole lot of other people. Everyone of the team is going to be here to help. She is going to have so many Aunts and Uncles she will be the most spoiled little girl at NCIS. Also I know Ms. Thurman, she will make sure you are well prepared to take care of your daughter before she comes home. I know she comes across as pretty gruff, but she really cares about the kids and is good at her job. Do you know who her mother is?"

"Well boss I have been thinking about that. I have idea. I want to ask the doctor a question though, and have a look at the security tape. Maybe I'll recognize her. Boss how could a mother abandon her baby like that?"

"She loved her enough to give her life, see to it she was in a safe place, and let you know you had a daughter even though she didn't feel she could care for her herself. That took courage to give the baby for adoption or you to raise. It may not be not have been the best way to do things, but your daughter didn't end up discarded in a trashcan or a case we ended up working. Remember that."

Tony sat for a moment absorbing what Gibbs had said and decided it was now a time for action, not just thought. There would be time for that later. "Ms Thurman, I was hoping to make a couple of requests. First, could you approve him to be on the list to see her?"

"I take it that Mr. Gibbs is a father figure for you and that you will be using him for guidance and support. Am I correct?" Tony nodded yes and looked at first her then Gibbs with hopeful eyes. "Then I will approve his being here with you in the NICU. What else did you want to ask?"

"I would like a Dr. Mallard to be kept apprised of the medical end of things. He is the ME at NCIS and a good friend. Our team has sort of become a family. None of us has much in the way of blood relatives and those we do have could have put the dysfunction in dysfunctional family. So we all sort of bonded. We tend to do things together. Heck we even spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together. He is sort of the Grandfather of the group and who we all go to to ask medical advice. Gibbs has become the one we turn to when we need a dad to turn to for advice. Back to Dr Mallard though, he can explain the medical parts of her care in ways that we will understand."

"So you are telling me that these people are part of you support network and you are hoping I will allow them to be here to help you. I'm glad to see you reaching out and asking for help. It is a good place to begin. I will allow him to be kept informed. But remember I will be the one making the final medical decisions until you are granted custody. Are you ready to go in now?" All three of them stood and walked to the door to be buzzed back in. Dr. Hill waited for them at the nurse's desk while a nurse helped them wash their hands and gown up.

As they walked together to the isolette Tony asked, "Dr. Hill I have been thinking about who the mother could be. I was wondering if she could have been conceived about March 25th?"

"That is very possible. If that is the case, that would make her 36 weeks. Her level of development is consistent with a 36 week infant. I take it you are beginning to have suspicions as to when she was made and with whom. Now lets talk about her health. As, I told you before she is breathing well for the most part. She did have a period of apnea when she had the low blood sugar event. Seizure and apnea both are both things that can occur with hypoglycemia. You will notice that she has leads to monitor her heart rate on her chest. Her heart rate is right where it needs to be. You notice the sensor with the red light on her foot, it is to make sure her oxygen saturation is good. Right now hers is 94%. We want it to stay above 90%. We have another sensor taped to her to monitor her temperature. Babies start fattening up about a month before they are born, about a half pound a week. She hadn't started that yet. That fat is important many reasons. It is used by her liver and pancreas as she starts to regulate blood sugar levels. Another way she uses the fat is regulating her body temperature. She is having a little trouble keeping her temperature up. Also something that is not uncommon for preemies. Give her time and all of this will improve. Your daughter has some advantages going for her now. Her heart is healthy, we ran some tests when she was brought in to check for heart problems as it is not uncommon for there to be heart defects in preemies. Also when she had the seizure earlier we checked for any bleeding in the brain, and that was negative. She is not showing signs of infection. There are many complications she could have but right now things look good. She will be here a while, most babies go home about the time they were actually due. Trust us to take good care of her and take care of yourself to. You look exhausted. Go home, eat a meal and get some sleep. If anything changes, the nurses have been instructed by Ms. Thurman to call both her and you. You aren't helping her if run yourself down and make yourself sick. This will take time. I'm glad to see you reaching out for help from family and friends, you will need it. Come back around 9:30 AM and if she still looks good we will see if she is up to you holding her."

"Can I just stay just a moment longer? I won't stay long." Tony reached inside the isolette and stroked his daughters hand as she slept. Even in her sleep she wrapped her tiny fingers around just one of his. It occurred to him that he didn't have a single picture of her yet. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped some pictures of her including one of her tiny hand holding on to his much larger one. His hands looked huge compared to hers. The nurse took his phone and snapped a picture as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. Lost in thought, he studied the cubicle with all the monitors for her and his gaze stopped on the name card above her bed. It read Baby Doe and that hurt down deep. His daughter was a Jane Doe. It reminded him of the many cases he had worked and now because he had been careless HIS daughter was a nameless Baby Doe. That would never do. He thought of the sweet little girl in the daycare this afternoon. She had hugged him and helped him overcome his fear of children. She had even insisted that he share her snack of grapes and cheese crackers. It was ironic that less than 12 hours later he was a daddy. It would be a good thing to name his daughter after her. He hoped he could raise her to be as thoughtful and loving. He was still wearing the pants with her handprints from this afternoon he mused. And then there was his mother. She looked just like her. His mom had loved him with all of her being. If she were still alive she would have spoiled her grandchild rotten. It would be appropriate to name her after his mom. "Ms Thurman may we give her a name instead of her being a Baby Doe, that is really bugging me."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking Esther Elizabeth. Esther was another a little girl I met today and Elizabeth was my mother's name."

"I think that is a wonderful idea."

The nurses took the old card down and made out a new name card. Tony was given the privilege of hanging the new one above her bed and with one last touch to her hand he stepped back from his beautiful daughter. He was preparing to leave when he realized Gibbs had not followed him. He saw Gibbs still standing next to her and looking at her closely. Gibbs stroked her cheek and touched her soft hair then leaned over and whispered quietly to her "Don't worry little one, I"ll take good care of your Daddy until your well enough to go home with him" Tiny blue eyes opened and looked intently into Gibbs before gently drifting closed. Gibbs stepped out of the door of the NICU with Tony. "DiNozzo, grab your go bag out of your car, your coming home with me. "

A/N: I have been asked how often I intend to post by several people. Well the answer is I hope to post a couple of times per week, maybe more if things go really well. I have 3 children at home so everything depends on real life, with them taking priority. Have to treasure them while you have them, they grow up so fast. Thank you for all the interest in my story. I would love to hear from any of you, so send me a note if you have any suggestions.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Sorry this took so long real life kept me pretty busy and I found this chapter really tough to write. This chapter covers the baby's mother and conception. I discuss some mature topics here. I tried to be tactful, but if this is not your thing please skip down past the line breaks marked NCIS. I kept the paragraphs containing the more mature information between the two NCIS's. You should be fine to read the rest of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 4

Tony opened his eyes and looked blearily around the room, slightly disoriented and unsure of where he was at. Looking around the room he realized he was in Gibbs spare bedroom. He knew this room well. He had stayed here enough times when he had been sick or injured. He had spent a month in this room after he had contracted the plague. For a moment he couldn't remember why he was here, then it suddenly hit him. Oh yeah, he was a dad and Gibbs had brought him home from the hospital last night. He looked at the clock and groaned. It was only 6:30 in the morning. He had to be at the hospital in three hours. What had awoken him? It was only then that he smelled bacon and coffee. Leave it to a Marine to be up that early on Saturday. He had a feeling Gibbs was expecting to have a talk before they headed to the hospital this morning. Gibbs had left his clothes from his go bag laying on the dresser. Everything in his bag had been dirty because he had lived out of his bag all week, somehow while he slept all of it had been washed. He was feeling rather humbled by all that Gibbs had done for him already, but he had no doubt he would be depending on him for a lot of things for a while. He dressed quickly and hurried to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway in surprise. Ducky and Gibbs were both leaning against the counter drinking their preferred morning beverages. Ducky had a cup of hot tea and Gibbs had his cup of marine grade coffee. The dining table was set for three with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast ready and waiting. Ducky handed him a cup of coffee and patted him soundly on his back. "Good Morning Anthony I believe congratulations are in order. Do you have pictures?" Tony took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Ducky. He had already changed the screensaver to his favorite picture of him kissing Esther's cheek. "She's beautiful Anthony."

~NCIS~

"Tony I called Ducky this morning and invited him over for breakfast. I think we need to have a serious talk about Esther's mother. You promised last night we would talk about this later and later is right now. I want to know everything you even have guessed about her. Now talk."

Tony took a deep breath. Last night he knew this conversation was coming and he had not been looking forward to it. He readily acknowledged he was something of a ladies man. There had been many times he would be with a new woman every week, but they had never been ones he picked up in a bar and knew nothing about. He grimaced and decided to just come clean. "Boss do you remember last March when you put me on desk duty for a week?"

"How could I forget? I was furious with you for showing up at a crime scene for some missing kids with one of the worst hangovers I had ever seen you have. We were on call that weekend and you know better than to drink on the weekends we are on call."

"That's right, you threatened to fire me if I ever came to work hung over again. That Friday was the 25th of March, my mother's birthday. Did you know that I am now the same age as my mom when she died? I was ten and we were so close. You know most people have a midlife crisis at 40, but not me. I had mine at 43. I didn't tell anybody but as her birthday got closer, I got more and more panicked. Here I was 43 years old , had a different girlfriend every week and lived like a college age frat boy. That night I went to a little club that Abby and I go to sometimes. She had something she was doing with Sister Rosita so I went there alone to get flat wasted. I wanted to drink until I forgot that night and hoped we didn't get a case. I knew you would ring my neck if you caught me, but I did it anyway. Looking back it was a cry for help. I remember sitting at the club drinking pretty hard by myself having a what Abby would call a pity party, then the next thing I know I woke up in this trashy motel room I would never have went to even halfway sober. I don't know how I got there, and it was pretty obvious that I had female company that night. The pillow smelled like perfume, the bed was a mess, my wallet was open and had been gone through but nothing was missing. My ID was still there, all my credit cards, even the cash I had taken with me for a taxi since I planned on getting drunk was still there. She must have taken that business card then. I don't even remember even chatting up a lady that night . Boss I checked and the room was paid for by me about two AM with my credit card. I was a little spooked because I couldn't remember leaving the club, let alone going to a motel with anyone so I called Charlie, he owns that club I went to. That place is loud and super busy boss, but they have good video surveillance. There is some video of me leaving the club with a tall brunette woman, but nothing with a name to track her down with. I ran her picture though AFIS, but came up with nothing. "

"Oh Tony why didn't you come to me before you got to that point and did something stupid like that? You could have been hurt or killed."

"I don't know why but I wish I had Boss. That incident really scared me. "

"Anthony did you go see a doctor after this happened?"

"Yeah Duck, I made a appointment the next week with the doctor I used to go to when I was a cop in Baltimore and had him follow-up. It never even crossed my mind that I might have a baby on the way. It was a wake-up call. I guess you could say I hit my rock bottom and I didn't like it. Through my years as a cop and agent I liked to think my mom would have been proud of me and what I do, but she wouldn't have been proud of me that morning . You weren't proud of me that day either. I couldn't risk losing you or the team. You have taken more time to help me be a better man than my Dad ever did. I want to be more like you, a man who is respected for his ethics and actions. Not like my dad whose life revolves around chasing the next dollar or the expensive, high maintenance woman on his arm. It got me to thinking if I didn't make some changes I was going to end up like him or dead."

~NCIS~

Gibbs took Tony's chin in his hand and made Tony look him directly in his eyes. "Tony I want you to know you can always come to me or Ducky about anything. No more keeping this kind of thing to yourself. Promise me this won't happen again." There was no mistaking Gibbs concern for him. "Tony, you have your bone headed moments, we all do, but I would have been proud to have you as my son."

"It won't happen again, thanks boss," came out at a whisper.

Gibbs continued "I talked to Ms. Thurman before we left last night. I wanted Abby to start the paternity test. The sooner it's done, the sooner we can petition for you to get custody of Esther. She said no to Abby because of the possibility someone could later claim conflict of interest, which makes sense. We want to do this right. I talked to Fornell this morning, and called in some favors he owes me. His lab tech is going do the paternity testing for you. She will meet us at the hospital this morning to collect the samples so she can start the test running today. Ms. Thurman was fine with that."

"Thanks Boss I appreciate that. By the way, how do you know Ms. Thurman? You seem to know her pretty well. She a former lady friend we don't know about? She is a red head, with your attitude to match." Tony wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Gibbs and never saw the head slap coming, but it definitely got his attention."Sorry Boss"

"No, she was the civilian social worker on a case we had while you were in hospital after opening that letter from Hanna Lowell." Tony grimaced at that memory, it was another one he preferred to not think about. "You know one of my hobbies is making toys to give away. Some of them go her, and she gives them to the kids that she works with that have nothing of their own." Tony wished he hadn't made that comment now, he felt like a heel. "I also called McGee. He and the rest of the team will meet us for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. They don't know why. He was pretty concerned about why we needed to meet at a hospital. We can have one of your so called campfires over lunch and bring them up to speed"

"I have already spoken to Esther's doctor this morning. She did fine last night. No need to worry right now they are taking good care of her. Now I believe it is time for us to go. I am looking forward to meeting her in person and will meet you and Jethro at the hospital." Ducky told them as he grabbed his hat and keys to go.

When they arrived at the hospital they found Fornell, his lab tech, and Ms Thurman waiting on them. It didn't take long to obtain the cheek swab from both him and Esther. Fornell bid them goodbye and left. Ducky had stayed back out of the way while the samples were obtained and was now eager to see baby. He took his turn stroking her soft cheek. "You are a blessed man Tony. I never had the opportunity to have any children of my own. As I get older it is something I deeply regret. Treasure this my boy"

"Duck I was hoping you would be Grandpa Ducky to her."

"I would be most honored Anthony" was Duck's heartfelt reply. Esther however had had enough sentiment and interrupted the conversation. She had decided she was tired and there had been to much noise and company. She began to whimper and quietly fuss. They were joined by a nurse and doctor they hadn't met yet. "Hello, I'm Dr. Stanley, I believe you met one of our other physicians, Dr. Hill, last night. I will be here during the day today."

"Nice to meet you Dr. Stanley, just call me Tony. How is she doing? " he replied.

"Tony, lets talk a minute about Esther. Infants born at 36 weeks vary greatly on how healthy they are. She is what we call a late preterm infant. Some have no problems at all, are healthy and able to go home immediately. Others are less developed and need more care. Your daughter falls into the later category. She's not nursing very well. For now most of her calories are coming from the nasogastric tube. The more she takes from the bottle the less we will put through that tube. She should be just on a bottle by the time she goes home. Right now she is getting a special formula for preterm babies that gives them extra calories and is fortified with vitamins and minerals she needs grow well. Also I'm sure you noticed she looks a little yellow .That is called jaundice. Her liver isn't quite mature and is a little slow therefore isn't quite clearing the bilirubin fast enough. The light that is inside the back of her onesie is called a BiliBlanket and helps her liver break down the bilirubin. After she goes home you can lay her in sunshine for the same effect. We will be pricking her heel every 12 hours and checking the level of bilirubin and will discontinue the BiliBlanket when he numbers get down where we wants them. Those numbers should be down in a few days. She hasn't had anymore episodes of apnea, but her oxygen saturation drops when she is just on room air. She needs the extra help the nasal cannula provides. She won't be discharged until she is gaining weight. She should gain about a quarter of an ounce per day per pound of body weight. So while she does need some help, things could be a lot worse. She should be OK with time and a little TLC."

Having heard the medical report, Ms. Thurman thought now was a good time to speak to him about things he needed to do to be ready to take Esther home. "Tony if you will give me just a moment of your time, I will leave you to have some family time with your daughter. I wanted to talk briefly about some of what Judge Bowers will be expecting from you to gain full custody. My office, the Department of Family Services, offers parenting classes. Judge Bowers requires any parent that goes through his court to take those classes. Because of Esther's age, you will need to take the infant and toddler class. We start a new class rotation this Monday night. I already have you enrolled. It's from 7-9PM on Monday evenings and lasts for six weeks. I know you haven't even started getting your home ready for her when she gets out of here. That will come more quickly than you think. He will want a home inspection done by the time you see him. When you are ready to do that let me know. I have scheduled a meeting with him on Wednesday morning. Hopefully we have the paternity results by then. Enjoy your daughter. "

After Ms Thurman left, all three men pulIed a rocking chair over next to Esthers bed and sat down with Tony in the middle. "Nurse may I hold her now?" Marie, Esther's nurse, gently wrapped her in a soft pink blanket and gently laid her in his arms. Tony loosened the blanket and carefully looked her over in the way that all new parents do. Esther was looking up at him, soaking in the attention." I'm your Daddy sweetheart and this is your Grandpa Gibbs and Your Grandpa Ducky."

Tony began rocking again and humming the same tune Gibbs had heard him hum before. "What is that you're singing to her Tony?"

"It's called I Love You A Bushel and a Peck. Doris Day sang it way back when. My mom would sing me the first couple of verses when she would tuck me in at night. It's one of my favorite memories of her. I really hadn't noticed I was singing it. I guess I know what her lullaby will be. She seems to like it." When he looked up Marie was holding a bottle for him to give to her. "While we would love for her to drink all of this, she normally drinks a little less than half. She just falls asleep and won't wake up to take the rest. She seems to have the suck, swallow breathe down so it may be the lethargy from the jaundice." Marie showed him how to hold her while Esther took a couple of swallows off the bottle and promptly fell back asleep. Tony lifted her up to his shoulder, patted her back and resumed rocking.

For my readers outside the US- a onesie is basically a undershirt that snaps between the legs for infants, TLC stand for Tender Loving Care


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Life has been crazy around here, but should be slowing down now that Little League is over. I still don't own NCIS or the characters. No copyright infringement is intended. Please read and review. I welcome any suggestions you might have to improve this story or scenes you would like to see.

Chapter 5

"McGee where is Gibbs?" Ziva asked eyeing him carefully.

"I don't know. I just sent him a text telling him we're here. He called me last night and said that me, you, Abby and Jimmy were to meet him and Tony here for lunch. You will know what this about at the same time I do."

"McGee, something is hinky about this. This is a strange place for him to ask us to lunch. …Ducky! What are you doing here? You know what is going on don't you? ….Spill!" she said as she wagged her finger in Ducky's face. The whole team was there. It couldn't be good. Abby was nervous and excited and as per usual the more excited she got the faster she was talking.

"Now my dear you will just have to be patient. All will be discussed in good time. Now let's get something to eat and sit down. They will be here shortly. Timothy, Mr. Palmer, would you be so kind as to help me put these tables together so we can all sit together. "

Gibbs heard his cell phone chime with a message that everyone was there as he had asked. Tony sat quietly looking at Esther oblivious to everything around him. She was back in her little bed holding one of his fingers and nursing her tongue in her sleep. Gibbs gently patted Tony's shoulder to get his attention. Tony looked back at him with a worried expression on his face. "The teams here. It's time to we tell them about their new niece. Come on, she'll be fine while we get lunch." Tony kissed her cheek one last time before he followed Gibbs out to the hall. It didn't take them long to reach the cafeteria and when they arrived everyone was just sitting down with their trays. Ducky had already gotten food for them so they didn't have to waste time waiting in line.

"Bossman, Tony! You're here! What's going on? Is someone sick? Did someone die? It can't be someone died because everyone is here. Speak!..." Tony put a finger against her mouth.

"Shhhh, Abbs you need to be quiet for a moment. You're talking too fast for me to answer your questions. Hush, just listen and let me tell you everything. I'm having enough trouble wrapping my head around this as it is."Tony sat down next to Gibbs and looked around the table. Ducky, Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ziva, Jimmy – those that mattered most were waiting and watching for him to tell them what was going on. He couldn't help but wonder what his loved ones would think of him after he told them about Esther and how he didn't know who her mother was. Would they support him or would they say he had made this mess and he was on his own to take care of it? He already knew what Gibbs and Ducky's reaction had been. He took a deep breath and his voice shook as he started to speak, "My cell phone rang just as I got home last night, it was Sandy Thurman from the Department of Family Services. I don't know any other way to say this but I'm now a single dad. I have a little girl and her name is Esther Elizabeth. She's up in NCIU not doing so well because she's a little early" Tony just sat there and didn't say anything else. Too much emotion had finally come to the surface and needed an outlet. He sat back in his chair and let the tears fall silently down his cheeks.

"Oh man Tony, I am so sorry. Tell us about her. Do you have pictures?" Abby asked, the first to break the silence. Tony pulled out his phone and handed it to her. "Awwww, she's beautiful", Abby replied as she scrolled through the pictures and then passed the phone to McGee.

"I really like that picture of you kissing her. That is sooo sweet."

"Thanks Abbs. That's my favorite too. I think I want a copy of it for my desk"

"I did not know you were in a relationship" Ziva stated.

"It's complicated Ziva. I don't know who or where her mother is for sure. Her mom just dropped her off at the ER, handed the nurse my card, said I was the father and left."

"How is it possible that you do not know who the mother is Tony?"

"Let's just say I had a midlife crisis that ended in a one night stand last spring and leave it at that Ziva. I was really struggling and still am"

"Are they looking for her?" was McGee's question.

"No, she abandoned the baby using the safe haven laws, so Esther would have been put up for adoption if I hadn't wanted to take her - with no criminal charges for abandonment being filed. Fornell's lab collected DNA samples from us this morning to start paternity testing. I won't be given custody of her until its proven she's mine."

"Fornell's lab? Tony why didn't you call me? You shouldn't have called another …"

At this point Gibbs decided it was time to step in. "Abby that is enough. I called him. You couldn't do the testing because of conflict of interest. There will be plenty of other ways you can help and support him and Esther. Tony's social worker is Sandy Thurman, I'm sure you remember her McGee."

"Yeah, how could I forget her? She was something else Boss."

"Tony how is she health wise? You said she was in the NICU." Jimmy questioned.

"Well they think she is about 36 weeks, which makes her just a little premature. She needs oxygen, help eating and is jaundiced. The good news is that she doesn't appear to have any birth defects so with a little time and no unexpected complications she should eventually be OK."

"So how are you handling this news? You seem a little overwhelmed right now," said Jimmy as he leaned forward, folded his hands and looked Tony in the eyes. Jimmy had learned to read Tony pretty well during the time Gibbs had retired to Mexico. He had taken on the role of confidant and advice giver when Tony had been in charge of the MCRT, just as Ducky had been to Gibbs. The quiet man was surprisingly wise and had always been a good source for advice and an ear just to listen.

"I never really thought of myself as ever being a dad and all of a sudden when I'm totally exhausted and running on fumes from a series of bad cases, I get this call that I have a daughter I didn't even know was on the way and she is the NICU sick. So at this moment I am somewhere between overwhelmed, panicked and totally numb. I don't even know where to begin. I called Gibbs last night and he's keeping me sane so far."

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say you now also have the support of everyone here. Now would be a good time for one of your campfires that you are so fond of Tony. That way we can give help where it is needed most, yes. " Ziva replied.

"Thanks that's a great idea Ziva."

"What does Sandy want you to do?" McGee asked.

"Well I have an appointment with the family court judge on Wedsday, provided the DNA is back. I have to do some things before then. I don't know how I'm going to get it all done by then. For one thing I have to have a home inspection before I see him, so I need to get my place clean and set of up for a baby. We have been working so much lately that I am totally behind on laundry and have almost no groceries in the kitchen. My extra bedroom is the catch all room that houses all the stuff I haven't had time to put away since I moved 2 months ago and needs to become a nursery. On top of that I don't even know what I need to get for her. That's just getting ready for the home inspection. I also have to take parenting classes which start on Monday. I have to pass them to get permanent custody. Boss what am I gonna do if we get a big case?"

"I have already been giving that some thought DiNozzo. As a federal employee you are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Now would be a great time for you to use some of vacation time you have accumulated over the years and never used. If you are still in classes when you come back, I will make sure you get to those classes. We are going to have to make some adjustments to your schedule anyway. I may have to make use of a TAD when we get the big cases; you can't be late every night with being the only parent of a baby at home. I was planning on going into the office later while you sit with Esther and talking to Vance about it. I should have been doing that a long time ago. Vance also made me the same offer about taking time off after this last case. I turned him down as you well know, but I think I will let him know that I have changed my mind in light of your current circumstances. I'll go back when after you've' talked to the judge."

"Thanks boss. I don't know what to say."

Abby thought for a minute. "Helping get your apartment ready is where the team can step in to help. Let us start with cleaning up the place. McGee and I were going to go to the laundry this afternoon anyway. We will take your stuff with us and just take over the laundrymat. You worry about the baby this afternoon. Tonight you and Gibbs stop and pick up paint for her room. Ziva and I will do some shopping and tomorrow morning we will paint. I am already scheduled off on Monday because of the amount of overtime I put in, so if Ziva takes the day off as well we can set up the room. I have sooo many ideas. I saw this cute blanket set with pink and black skull print when I was shopping a couple of weeks ago…"

"Whoa Abby. We want Ms. Thurman to approve, and she doesn't strike me as the type of person that skulls would go over well with." Tony smiled for the first time since he had entered the cafeteria. It was reassuring to know he could rely on his friends.

"Tony have you called your Dad yet to let him know he is now a grandpa?" McGee asked.

"I have been trying to get a hold of him for a while now about some other matters. He hasn't returned my phone calls so I guess he'll find out when he actually calls me back. "

"His loss Tony. NOTHING could keep me away if Kelly had made me a grandpa. Just like nothing is going to keep me away from little Esther"

"Gibbs I am going back to the nursery. Will you pick me up after you get done talking to Vance and getting the paperwork for our leave done at the office?"

"Tony we need your key so we can get in. It would probably look better to your neighbors than Ziva picking the lock."

"Probie trust me you don't want to pick the lock at my new apartment. The neighborhood watch will definitely notice. You should introduce yourself to my neighbor across the hall even with a key, she doesn't know you. Trust me, you won't like the reception you get if she thinks you are breaking in and anyone going in she doesn't know must be trouble in her book."

Gibbs stayed and talked with everyone for a few moments after Tony left. He had a few plans for his new grandbaby as well that he wanted to be a surprise. He had second chance for family and he wasn't going to waste it.


End file.
